Dear Friends,

This weekend at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, bunch of us are delighted to convene at a global conference exploring: What's After Mindfulness?

Originally, Diana and Coleman invited us to offer a presentation; but as they learned more about our organizing principles, they became enthralled with the idea of spreading a culture of non-commercial spirit of service throughout their conference. We invited them to move from legal contracts to trust in friendship, and they ditched the contract for all speakers. We invited them to explore inclusive ticketing, and they have whole heartedly embraced multiple forms of capital unTickets! In the vein of Karma Kitchen, 30+ groups are convening a midday "Festival of Sharing" that nurtures a shift from transaction to trust.

Between talks from Buddhist luminaries like Ajahn Brahm and Karma Lekshe, we'll hear from everyday heroes (like Zilong, Melissa, Kozo!), a humorous puppet dialogue from Rev Heng Sure and storyteller Brian Conroy, and outside on the plaza, local love warriors (like Bradley, Bela, Vishesh!) will be engaging diverse experiments in kindness -- from 'deep listening' booths to poetry stories to intention-bracelets, peace crane-making, chalk-the-walk, and beyond!

We're looking forward to seeing what the collective holds in store, and invite all of you to join in the fun as well!

Around the globe, it's been a joy to witness a concert of collective ripples unfolding in so many directions! On the coattails of gatherings in Colombia and California around the topic of building bridges, Trishna and friends convened a parallel day-long in London! At the follow-up Awakin Circle, a surprise guest joined last minute: Gandhi's grandson! In parallel, Pancho literally builds bridges in a prison cell at the US-Mexico border. As Parag and Surat community celebrates two years with a cricket-themed KK in India, Iwona, Maja, Piotr and the Poland gang just served 100+ people at Karma Kitchen Warsaw yesterday! As we speak, a gang of 9 volunteers from Austria are in Munich for a Wisdom Together event on engagement.

Vinoba Bhave once wrote:
 

When we will all see our role in society as servants, we will all light up the sky together like countless stars on a dark night. Don’t think of society as the sky on a full moon night. The moon's harsh light blinds us to the true and humble work of the stars. But on a moonless night, the true servants shine forth, as though they are connected invisibly in this vast and infinite cosmos.